Did Flipping Change the Quality of Student Work, or the Quality of the Assignment? Something has changed. At first I thought that since I started flipping my chemistry class, the quality of work that I got from my students had improved. Of course it did, because I now expect every student to achieve mastery, not just complete assignments. Anything that did not meet the standard would have to be revised, whether it was a quiz, a lab, or a test. I provided feedback and students revised their work. I allowed my students to check their answers as they go and the work they had to show at the end of the day was already approved as meeting or exceeding the standard. Initially I thought I would write a blog post about how the quality of my students’ work has improved. But as I looked back to find examples of the same assignment pre-flip and post-flip, I realized that they were very difficult to find. I don’t give the same kinds of assignments anymore. I still ask them to solve some of the same old problems and do some of the same labs, but I have modified them to be much more collaborative, scaffolded differently, or presented in a new and different way that I never had time for before I flipped my class. Here is an example of a simple modification to increase collaboration in my class. I took a worksheet that an individual student might have done for homework before and split it into two halves so it can be used at a station in my class with the “Rally-Coach[1]” structure from Kagan. Being able to talk about what they’re doing as they solve the problems is much more effective than trying to work it through on their own that students feel much more confident in their abilities and are able to get timely and meaningful feedback – and there’s less grading for me!

I also have samples of old lab reports, but the new lab reports include revisions made by students because I flipped my feedback. Students get a video recording of my feedback and thought process as I grade their lab reports – and since I write on the screen as I record instead of writing in their notebooks, they don’t even get to know what grade they have on the lab report until they watch the video and make the recommended corrections (resulting in a higher grade). My students now submit better writing samples because they tell me that as they are writing, they are imagining what their video might say! I usually record only one or two videos per year per kid. I’m going to spend the time grading their labs anyway, so I just point a document camera at it, hit record, and voice my thoughts out loud as I check their work. The result is still that they turn in better lab reports throughout the year after watching me grade the first one or two labs. They also know I care enough to help them improve their writing and that I believe in their ability to get it write with clarity and accuracy. When I transition to digital lab journals next year, I will continue recording my feedback using a screen capture video.

So I am not sure what has changed more since flipping my classes, the quality of work I get from my students, or the quality of the assignments, or the quality of the feedback that I am able to provide. Either way, using the flipped classroom model has benefited both my students and me.